For anyone who’s stood on a packed train lately, the idea that Britain faces a population crisis might seem absurd. But the platform crush belies a demographic crash, little noticed when England and Wales recently posted its lowest birth rate figures – of 1.7 babies per woman – since records began.

We may hold our nose when nativists like Viktor Orbán describe his nationalisation of IVF clinics as a “strategic investment”, but across Europe tax breaks and cash handouts are everywhere and growing. This month Greece became the latest with plans for a €2,000 baby bonus, joining a long list of European countries now providing strong incentives for its people to have more children.

Indeed many demographers view Britain as oddly unsupportive of natalism, and of 41 OECD countries, the UK comes in 34th in paid parental leave. While in France mothers receive extra-long maternity leave and a cash bonus after their third child, and there are travel perks and reduced income tax for large families, in Britain child benefit is means tested and capped at two children. Oh Mon Dieu!

Former Eastern Bloc countries, once the family’s enemy, are now resurrecting the idea that parents must somehow be allowed to capture the economic rents of child-rearing. An outflow of young workers to the West, empty cradles at home and a reluctance to embrace immigration have produced an existential crisis...

Britain, too, has targets for the 2030s, but not for children. Indeed environmentalists behind our green carbon goals see population as a problem, even though — with the number of Britons living alone recently hitting 8 million for the first time — rising consumption per capita will be one consequence.

The green argument against children is popular, and it’s not just Harry and Meghan who fret about their minuscule contribution to population growth. A YouGov survey in January found that of under 35s who do not want children, one in seven cite fears for the planet’s future as their motivation. A fifth of British women are childless, the third highest proportion in the developed world.

Yet where this is a genuine sacrifice, it may also be unnecessary. Many demographers say global population is a lagging indicator and should top-out by mid-century, falling sharply thereafter. In many developed countries it’s already in free fall...

Breaking that cycle is the work of decades, and governments rarely think that far ahead. As Ross Douthat wrote in the New York Times: “It’s very hard to find a way to effectively place value on things like the creation of new workers 30 years from now. It’s just too long-term...”

China, having ditched its wicked one-child policy, is now in a panic about becoming the first country to get old before it gets rich...

But could Boris launch a British pro-natalism agenda, while staying true to his liberal roots and new northern electoral powerhouse?...

A Guardian survey in 2014 found a third of couples would have more children were they not so expensive; indeed if British women had all the babies they wanted, our birth rate would be above replacement level. In the US, which has seen huge falls in fertility in the past decade, 40% of women do not have all the children they wish...

...in the developed world a woman’s ability to achieve her stated fertility ambitions can be seen as a form of social justice and source of empowerment...

In his book, The Road to Somewhere, David Goodhart argued that Somewhere women had been ignored by a highly-educated elite of Anywhere careerists, who obsess about things like boardroom representation.

If a retrograde to ethnic nationalism occurs in Europe or America it won’t be led by Christians. Too few of them. Too many “churches” focused on prosperity doctrine rather than Old Testament lessons about tribal success.

Nationalism could turn violent in response to a foreign offensive. Unlikely in the West based on current trends in Scandinavia, Germany, and France. Frankly, the leaders of those states are doing their best to destroy the indigenous culture. So any backlash would be organic, unorganized, and poorly resourced.

By contrast, the Eastern European states are well on the road to stemming the foreign influx and throwing off the mantle of the failed EU experiment. Those small states form the likely bulwark against eastern onslaught. Could be a catalyst for neighbors to join them. Unlikely to spread to Bavaria or the Channel coast without a significant cultural shift in the Western European states.

There’s plenty of simmering outrage. However, those who are most upset are busy being productive and responsible. They don’t have time or inclination to take to the streets. A major economic recession that throws them out of work and denies the ability to feed their families might change that. It’s possible that such an exogenous disruption is on the horizon.

Best case is that rational and responsible political leaders take power and emphasize peaceful assimilation and fiscal responsibility. That’s about as likely a me growing a 3d set of teeth. Barring the rise of a charismatic and strong leader in the West, a prudent man might brush up in the rules outline in Hadith

I see the issue is that women want kids but want to have a good life before they do so. Thus the ones having kids are the ones that don't have jobs and don't bring the kids up to a good standard and need to rely on social security. They end up ill-educated and few make anything with their lives.

Middle class people are too busy working and a kid would impact how many holidays they have. Many still are and these are our dwindling British core.

So the PTB get the cannon fodder they want and standards and IQs are dropping like stones while we are outbred by people using our money to fund the programme.

I question in this modern age whether we need so many low paid workers and why we should encourage them to breed. We should encourage our middle class mothers instead.

Skean Dhude
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It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin